Jury orders Bayer, J&J to pay $28 million in Xarelto lawsuit

By Tina Bellon

(Reuters) - A Philadelphia state court jury on Tuesday ordered Bayer AG and Johnson & Johnson to pay $27.8 million to an Indiana couple over the drugmakers' failure to warn of internal bleeding risks by its blockbuster drug Xarelto.

The jury slapped the companies, which jointly developed the blood thinner, with $1.8 million in compensatory and $26 million in punitive damages, according to the couple's lawyer.

The verdict marks the first trial loss in litigation over Xarelto. Bayer and J&J have won three previous cases in federal court.

(This version of the story corrects headline to $28 million instead of $29 million, corrects paragraph 2 to $1.8 million compensatory and $26 million punitive instead of $26 million compensatory and $1.8 million punitive)

(Reporting by Anthony Lin; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)